Well, we finally got all four issues, two teams, and more super-beings by the truckload since Crisis. What’d you think?
I was surprised they didn’t use that ‘Access’ dude who’s supposed be the conduit between the Marvel and DC universes.
Didn’t he sacrifice himself at the end of that storyline? Maybe I’m thinking of the old guy…
I dropped it after the Thor/Superman fight. God of Thunder who doesn’t use lightning in a fight…worst fight ever! It really soured me to the book as he was clearly favouring the DC heros.
What? Green Lantern got screwed over by Photon, of all people… and poor Wally couldn’t do a thing.
I loved the crossover… I thought it was a tiny bit predictable… but there’s no way to write one of these crossover things that isn’t.
Total rip-off. Emma Peel was nowhere to be seen.
Mmm… Emma…
? Thor didn’t fight Supes. His opponent was Captain Marvel. Supes fought the Hulk and won.
I thought it was kind of cheap the way they wrote the battles, though. Mostly, it was just to see who could get the most hits in. The only interesting battle was the Superboy/Spidey fight.
I liked it, all in all.
That said, I thought they spent too much time on the Krona stuff (read: any time at all) because who cares? I know I didn’t. Those few pages of Krona talking to Metron about I have no idea what (because again, I don’t care) could have been filled with, I dunno, anything else, really.
I can’t say that they really favored DC that much; I think Marvel got some good shots in, too, like the afformentioned beating down of Green Lantern by Photon, or Thor getting a last “you’re not really worthy” shot in at Superman, Captain America being everyone’s choice for leader, etc.
We’re talking about the recent JLA/Avengers mini-series, not the Marvel vs. DC series from a few years back.
I thought it was fairly well balanced…I didn’t think either universe was favored. Even given the fact that half the issues were named “Avengers/JLA.”
Overall, I kinda prefer “less-is-more” stories — once stories get too cosmic and “fate of the universe-y,” I lose interest.
That subjectivity aside said, I was jazzed just seeing these characters occupy the same space. My favorite aspects of the series was the character interaction between the heroes and their reactions to their opposing realities.
I was really impressed with Perez’s layout work at maintaining clarity in dramatically overpopulated scenes so that one could follow the story (especially when heroes started blinking in and out of existence and time-shifting to their various incarnations.) When you consider that good illustration has as much to do with composition and “framing your shot” as it does “drawing-a-figure-well” he deserves huge recognition.
On the downside, Busiek cheated me out of a Batman-Captain America face-off. Grr!
Actually, I liked that bit. I found a lot of the fighting became as tedious as the Krona stuff. I would have liked a bit more actual STORY development, a bit more actual action and adventure, and a bit less superheroes hitting each other with no real story development. The last bit of issue 4 was kind of… blah, simply because so little REAL storytelling happened. That said, I enjoyed the blinking in and out of existence stuff, that was fun. Especially when Bats stumbled as he turned into Neal Adams batman. Much fun!
I’ve also got to agree with Perez’s framing being amazing! He’s one of the few artists today that can handle something like this. Look at the stuff he did in Crisis, Teen Titans, etc, it’s all truly a marvel (no pun) to look at! I especially like his work in the Histroy of the DCU (which came out at the end of Crisis).
I personally just like the way Busiek came up with a story that allowed him to feature all the different team members in a manner that didn’t feel contrived (or at least, no more contrived than any other comic book title).
While I thought the story fell down a bit in the last issue – being essentially one big fight scene – the realist in me recognizes that the big appeal of this series is simply watching all the characters hang out together; the plot’s just there to give them something to do.
And I hope everyone caught the fun subtle stuff in the background of #4.
Tigra vs. Cheetah; Despero vs. L-Ron in Despero’s body; etc.
I’d love to see an annotated JLA/Avengers and see someone point out all those little details, and name all the characters in each panel. Hell, they ought to make it a contest for $10,000 bucks or something.
I’m not much on cosmic-scale stories either. You can cheat with the ground rules way too much. But this was extremely enjoyable. D-Man returns!
Google for “annotated JLA/Avengers” and you’lll see folks working on this… apparently, the big bad Hardcover will feature some annotation as well.
I thought they dropped the ball on the last issue, which is especially disappointing because we had to wait four months for that lacklustre ending.
The ruins of Galactus’ suit as Krona’s base was cool, but the fight scene was sorely disappointing. There were simply too many characters appearing in and out, making it confusing to follow (not to mention a retread of what happened in issue #3 - the world changing in order to allow Perez to do at least one panel drawing of every member of each team); and any way, it all amounted to a blah, so-so smash-and-bash scene.
What I thought was great about Busiek’s run on the Avengers was the way the team used battle tactics and strategy to combat problems. Fights were never merely Thor clobbering people with his hammer; the Avengers actually had to put some thought into how to use their powers best to fight Kulan Gath, Count Nefaria, etc. None of that was present in the final battle of JLA/ Avengers, and that’s the biggest let-down. I had expected that to see the core groups of each team (pretty much everyone at the Grandmaster’s lair at the end of issue #3) working together against a host of classic villains - but I would’ve liked to have seen more creative use of their powers, and some more interesting confrontations.
Aquaman using his power of marine life to paralyze Attuma and an entire horde of Atlanteans was the type of thing I was expecting more of. For example, how would Hank Pym (always on the edge of a nervous breakdown) deal with the Psycho-Pirate? Just imagine Tony Stark and Hal Jordan exchanging the suit of armor for the ring of power, how would each character use them differently? Wonder Woman using Cap’s shield (Superman DIDN"T need it!) and the Wasp taking WW’s bracelets? The Vision vs. Amazo? The Scarlet Witch vs. Neron? (she once took on Dormmamu; with her amped-up DC Universe powers, she could’ve snuffed Neron!)
BTW, I remember in the DC / Marvel crossover several years back, Wonder Woman was apparently “worthy” of handling Thor’s hammer, and not just “in an instance of dire peril.” If she could, why wouldn’t Superman be able to?
I thought it was really cool just to see the electric blue Superman again, even if just for the one panel. I liked him a lot better than the “classic;” especially in JLA stories, they had a lot of fun exploring what his powers were capable of.
I’m sure the powers-that-be would explain that Diana’s links to the gods of Olympus make her more worthy to wield the mystic Mjolnir than Superman. (especially given that Mjolnir is magic and that would affect Superman’s abilities with the hammer, but we already had that discussion, and couldn’t conclude why the hammer didn’t totally cream Supes).
Personally, I think it was just a swipe at Supes, and a way to reinforce that only Thor is TRULY worthy…
blah blah blah.
Maybe it’s to balance out the indignity of Thor losing to Superman previously? 
Anyone else think that Batman would be able to clean Cap’s clock? Yes, Cap has slightly more natural strength and agility … but his years of fighting experience pale in comparison to the numerous and esoteric martial arts the Batman has mastered. Plus… utility belt beats indestructible shield.